Our businesses can’t be all things to all people. We can’t offer every service imaginable, manufacture every product possible and deliver it to everyone all over the world.
In order to be a success and break through the ceiling, we must focus our efforts on what we do best, and promote it to our Target Market.
What is a Target Market?
The Entrepreneurial Operating System™ (EOS) describes a Target Market as “Your List” of perfect prospects. It’s a carefully compiled list of people who need your product or service, based on your research and investigation.
EOS guides leadership teams through a process to develop a laser-sharp focus for your sales and marketing efforts by specifying a clear marketing strategy. Your marketing strategy defines what makes you different from your competition, allows you to close more of the right business, and helps you build a foundation for future marketing messages.
Establishing your Target Market is EOS’s first of four elements in developing your business’s marketing strategy.
Three Characteristics of Your Target Market
In order to identify your Target Market, you and your leadership team must define the following characteristics about your prospects:
- Geographic characteristics. Where are your ideal customers located? Where do they live and work? Are they local, national or international? How does their location affect their ability to buy from you?
- Demographic characteristics. Is your business-to-business company focusing on executive level job titles or a particular industry? If your business is a business to consumer company, who would benefit from what you are selling? What is their age, gender, income level, marital status or education level?
- Psychographic characteristics. Get to know the person behind the name or title. How do they think? What is important to them? What do they worry about?
Once you define who your Target Market is, where they are, and what they need, start researching to create a list of potential customers for your business to focus on. Answering the geographic, demographic and psychographic questions about your Target Market creates a filter, which will prevent you from wasting valuable time on customers that are not right for you.
Does your business need help identifying its Target Market? If so, contact us. We can help.
About EOS
EOS is a holistic management system with simple tools that help you do three things we call vision, traction, healthy. Vision from the standpoint of first getting your leaders 100% on the same page with where your organization is going. Traction from the standpoint of helping your leaders to become more disciplined and accountable, executing really well to achieve every part of your vision. Healthy meaning helping your leaders to become a healthy, functional, cohesive leadership team.
